Last Sunday I finally got round to doing the Ponte Challenge. Our hosts, Dlala Nje, an NGO based in the building. Through their tours within the city, they are able to provide a Community Centre where children and teens can learn in a safe space. The Ponte Challenge is a “race” up all the stairs to the top of the building. Included are refreshments and a breakfast on the 54 floor. With views of Johannesburg that I guarantee, you have never seen.
Anyone who lives in Jozi knows the iconic landmark situated in Berea Johannesburg. The tallest residential building in Africa; 54 stories high. Its unique feature, that it is cylindrical, built round an empty core.
The history of this building is provocative. Initially the height of glitz and glamour, it eventually deteriorated into slums and squalor. Now literally on the rise again, the rubbish and suicide pit that filled the core to 14 floors high, was cleaned out and the building is now home to 1000s of residents
Not only is it an iconic landmark, featured in many a movie, but the colourful history is a literal depiction of South African history from the Apartheid era till now. The parallels are hard to miss.
